The Secret of Anomaly
by PixieDinoGirl
Summary: AU from 4.6. When Molly was 11 she fell through an anomaly and was taken to the Home Office. Now she's the biggest secret in the ARC; a secret that's about to be discovered.  Jess/Becker, Abby/Connor
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: The Secret of Anomaly (1/?)  
**Author**: PixieDinoGirl  
**Characters**: Jess/Becker, Abby/Connor, Lester, OC  
**Rating**: K+  
**Word Count**: just over 2100  
**Warnings**: none really  
**Spoilers**: Set sometime after 4.6  
**Summary**: When Molly was 11 she fell through an anomaly and was taken to the Home Office. Now she's the biggest secret in the ARC; a secret that's about to be discovered. (Jess/Becker, Abby/Connor)  
**A/N**: This is a plot bunny that attacked me a while ago and I've finally decided to start writing it. This story hasn't been beta read but I've done my best! Feel free to point out any glaring errors.

**Chapter 1**

The day had been routine and ordinary, well as ordinary as a day at the ARC could be. One anomaly had opened with no creature incursions so Becker had returned to the ARC with Matt and Abby, leaving the anomaly in the capable hands of the ARC soldiers.

Jess had been fussing around him ever since his injury and that had doubled since the bomb incident and it was beginning to get hard to have any time to himself while at the ARC.

It was the end of the day and Becker had finally managed to break away from Jess. He worked his way through the many corridors of the ARC, heading for the lockers which, for some reason unbeknown to Becker, were situated at the opposite side of the ARC as the central hub.

He had almost reached his destination and the corridors were deserted, most of the soldiers in a briefing being held by Burton. Becker already knew the content of the briefing; he had been there when Burton had been planning the new policies for any person who appeared through the anomalies form another time. It was because of the quiet that Becker was startled by the quiet thud coming from one of the nearby rooms; a deserted room which Becker knew held one of the only unprotected entrances to the ARC. Lester had purposely made sure it existed when the new ARC was built, and it was still unknown to everyone but them.

It could mean only one thing. Changing his direction so that he would walk straight past the deserted room, he stopped outside and stuck his head around the door. The room looked empty, but Becker knew differently. "Molly, it's only me," he called out into the quiet.

A teenage girl stepped out of the shadows clutching the top of her arm, a look of pain in her eyes. Her just-past-shoulder length hair was a strawberry blonde and pushed to one side, away from her injured arm. Her blue eyes shone with hidden tears in the low light of the room and Becker immediately rushed over to her, "What happened?" he asked, though he didn't expect an answer.

"Not much," was the quiet reply. "It just hurts."

"Alright, let's get you patched up," Becker moved Molly so she was sat down against the wall. "Is this the only reason you're here, or is there something else?"

Molly answered by shaking her head, which left Becker confused as to which question she had answered.

"Ok, stay here. I'll get a first aid kit," Becker didn't want to leave her on her own but had no choice.

Becker reached the main hub area without incident but he was then intercepted by Lester who told him he was expected in a meeting with Burton in 5 minutes time.

"Lester, I can't go. Molly just turned up and she's hurt. There's something suspicious about it too. I need to keep an eye on her," Becker told him quietly and urgently.

"If you're not at that meeting he'll know something's up and then Molly will be in trouble anyway. Send someone else," Lester told him matter of factly.

"Who? No one else knows about her. You won't let her talk to anyone," Becker argued in a hushed tone.

"Then find someone you can trust and send them. Just hurry up!" with that Lester walked off towards his office, leaving Becker to think over his problem.

Jess. Jess would have to be the answer. Becker knew he could trust her; if nothing else she seemed to fancy him and he could always use that to his advantage.

Becker walked over to stand next to Jess. "Jess?" he asked. "How are you at keeping secrets?"

Jess looked up at him, "What are you talking about?" was her response.

"I need your help, but you can't tell anyone. Not a soul," he told her.

"What is it?" Jess sounded worried, a look of concern in her eyes.

"Come with me," Becker led Jess back through the maze of corridors, stopping to pick up a first aid kit along the way.

At this Jess's concern seemed to double. "What's going on? Are you hurt?"

Becker shook his head, "No, not me."

"Then why don't they just . . ." Becker shook his head again to silence her. Jess quieted down and just continued to follow Becker through the corridors. They arrived at the hidden room less than a minute later and Becker hurried inside.

"Molly, I'm back," he said as he crouched back down next to the girl. Jess stopped in the doorway, unsure of what to do. Sat in front of them was a teenage girl, no older than 14, wearing brown trousers with a seemingly endless number of pockets and a short sleeve t-shirt in light pink. One sleeve was blood stained and had been pushed up above her shoulder so Becker could access the cut on her arm. Becker turned back to Jess, "Come here." Jess moved and crouched down at the other side of the girl. She watched as the girl registered that Jess was there before turning back to Becker with panic in her eyes.

"Becker, what about . . ." Molly started, before being cut off by Becker.

"It's Okay. Lester told me to tell someone. I have to go to a meeting. This is Jess, she's going to look after you," Becker turned to Jess. "I have to go. Can you stay here and look after her? I'll be back as soon as I can." With that Becker sped out the door.

Jess eyed the girl curiously. "You're name's Molly?" she asked.

Molly nodded as her answer then stopped as it jolted her arm which, upon closer inspection, seemed to be bleeding steadily.

"What happened?" Jess asked, picking up the discarded first aid kit and moving to Molly's injured left arm. The three parallel gashes on her arm were close together but didn't look too deep, they wouldn't need stitches, but Jess suspected they hurt like hell. She began cleaning the wound best she could before wrapping it tightly with a bandage.

"Run in with an old acquaintance," Molly said.

Jess waited but Molly didn't give her any more information. "Okay, different question then. Who are you?" Jess finished wrapping the arm and moved to sit on Molly's uninjured side, in order to prevent knocking the injured limb.

"You're Jess aren't you?" Molly asked, avoiding the question aimed at her, "Becker's Jess, I mean? He talks about you a lot."

"Does he? Really?" Jess asked.

"Of course. He told me you saved him from a bomb. You must have been scared," Molly said.

"I didn't really think about me. I was more worried about Becker," Jess stopped talking and looked at Molly. "I'm pretty sure I asked about you. How did we end up talking about me?"

"I'm not sure what I'm allowed to tell you. Up until now the only people who've known about me have been Becker and Mr. Lester," Molly stopped talking. "I'll tell you what I can once I ask Becker."

"Why are you being kept such a secret? And if no one knows about you how did you get into the ARC?" Jess had hundreds of questions but stopped asking when Molly just shook her head.

"That's all the stuff I'm not allowed to say," Molly looked down at her knees, which she had tucked up under her chin.

"It's alright, I can wait. Tell you what. Do you like chocolate?" Molly nodded so Jess continued. "I'll be back in a minute; I have some in my locker." Jess stood and left the room, returning a minute later with a huge bar of chocolate. "Here. We can share this."

"Are you sure? I have some money," Molly was cut off by Jess.

"Under no circumstances am I going to even consider accepting money for a little bit of chocolate. Besides, Becker gave it to me. I think he'd appreciate me sharing it with you," Jess smiled at the girl reassuringly as she accepted a small piece of chocolate.

"Thanks," Molly said with a small smile. "Jess? How long is Becker's meeting going to take?"

"I have no idea. Shouldn't be too long though," Jess reassured her.

"I can't stay here forever. Won't they notice you missing?" Panic filled Molly's eyes once again.

"It's okay. I was supposed to finish work over an hour again but I lost track of the time," Jess replied. "They might wonder why I'm leaving late since I finished ages ago but I'll come up with something."

"You could always sneak out the back exit," Molly suggested.

"There's a back exit?" Molly nodded. "I think that _would _be noticed if I turned up in the morning and I hadn't signed out of the building the day before."

Molly started to shrug her shoulders then seemed to remember her arm and thought better of it.

"It's what I always do," Molly bit into her chocolate thoughtfully, "then again, it's not like I have much of a choice."

"Are Becker and Lester the only one's who know about you?" Jess asked.

"Not anymore," Molly smiled.

Jess found Molly's smile to be contagious and soon found herself grinning back at the girl.

That was how Becker found them, grinning away while munching on chocolate. He couldn't help but grin himself at the sight.

"Feeling better?" Becker asked as he stood just inside the door.

Jess jumped at his voice, not having noticed him entering the room. Molly however had known all along that he was stood there.

"Much better thanks," Molly smiled up at him, "Jess gave me chocolate."

"Well, chocolate can solve anything can't it?" Becker moved over towards Molly and Jess. "How's your arm?" he asked Molly.

"I'll be fine. I've had worse," Molly replied and Becker noticed the small frown that crossed Jess' face.

"Tell you what. How about we go get some food? Proper food. Lester's paying," Becker let Molly consider that for a moment while he turned to Jess. "Do you want to come?"

Jess wasn't about to let this opportunity to spend time with Becker pass her by, "Sure. Besides, I want to know more about this one." She gestured to Molly as she spoke.

"Alright. Where shall I meet you?" Molly asked then continued without giving Becker time to answer, "How about the lay-by? In ten minutes?"

"Sounds fine. We'll meet you there," Becker turned and led Jess out of the door, leaving Molly to make her own way. "Come on, I just want to stop at my locker then we'll head out," the pair headed towards the locker room.

Arriving there they found that the room had filled up considerably since Jess had fetched the chocolate from her locker. While then the room had been empty it now held almost a dozen people, all either collecting or depositing belongings in their lockers. Becker's was one of the few soldiers whose locker was kept in the same place as the main field team and all the lab staff who worked at the ARC. Jess and Becker had lockers on opposite sides of the room so the pair split up to go to their lockers.

Jess found Abby, whose locker was very close to Jess's, sorting through her locker seemingly trying to find something. Jess quickly grabbed her stuff from her own locker and stopped to talk to Abby.

"You alright?" she asked. "You look like you've lost something."

Abby turned to look at her, "Yeah, I just need to find. . . " she trailed off and started to turn back to her locker then stopped when she saw Jess was ready to head home. "Are you heading home? Don't suppose I could have a lift could I? Then Connor can take my car and I don't have to pick him up later."

Jess smiled apologetically, "No, I'm off to get some food with Becker." Jess didn't quite realise what she had said until Abby smiled at her. Jess blushed, "No it's not like that!"

"Of course, you keep telling yourself that," Abby said. She saw Becker heading across the room toward them but decided against telling Jess.

"Tell you what, I'll ask Becker if he can give me a lift home afterwards. Then you can take my car."

Becker heard this from where he had stopped behind Jess, "Sure that should be fine." He smirked as Jess jumped.

Jess spun round quickly, "Becker you have got to stop doing that!" She hit him on the arm and he pretended that it hurt.

Abby laughed at their antics, before accepting Jess's car keys and heading off to find Connor.

"Come on, Molly will be waiting for us," Becker turned and headed towards his car and Jess hurried to catch up with him.

TBC . . .


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: The Secret of Anomaly (2/?)  
**Author**: PixieDinoGirl  
**Characters**: Jess/Becker, Abby/Connor, Lester, OC  
**Rating**: K+  
**Word Count**: just over 2000  
**Warnings**: none really  
**Spoilers**: Set sometime after 4.6  
**Summary**: When Molly was 11 she fell through an anomaly and was taken to the Home Office. Now she's the biggest secret in the ARC; a secret that's about to be discovered. (Jess/Becker, Abby/Connor)  
**A/N**: This is a plot bunny that attacked me a while ago and I've finally decided to start writing it. This story hasn't been beta read but I've done my best! Feel free to point out any glaring errors.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything that you recognise.

**Chapter 2**

"_Come on, Molly will be waiting for us," Becker turned and headed towards his car and Jess hurried to catch up with him._ They walked in silence down to the car park and the silence continued as they started their journey towards the lay-by.

Jess finally decided to break the silence, "So, where is this lay-by then?" she asked.

"It's just round the corner," he explained. He was quiet for a minute before he asked, "What did you think of Molly?"

"She seemed quiet, like she was unsure as to what to say," Jess paused trying to put into words the impression she had got of the girl. "She seems strange. I don't mean it in a bad way, in fact strange may be the wrong word. She's just different, I mean if you took a kid from school and Molly then you'd notice a big difference between them . . ." Jess trailed off when she realised she was babbling. "Sorry," she wasn't quite sure what she was sorry for but she felt like she owed Becker an apology.

"What for? I'm going to guess that it won't be much of a surprise to you that Molly _is_ different. Very different," Becker told her.

"How?" Jess's curiosity was multiplied at this new information.

"You can ask her. We're here," Becker pulled the car over into the lay-by and waved at Molly through the window. She had changed her t-shirt to one of a tie-dye pattern that swirled blue and green together and the sleeve of her top now covered the bandage on her arm. Molly moved to the car and opened the back door, throwing in her bag before climbing in herself.

"Hi Becker, Hi Jess," Molly smiled at them turning in her seat as she fastened the seatbelt. Jess noticed that she was slightly clumsy as she fastened the seatbelt with her right arm.

"Are you left handed?" Jess asked.

"Yep. But my arm hurts a bit so I'm trying not to use it," Molly explained.

"Do you need some painkillers?" Jess asked.

Molly declined, "Lester won't let me have any." This time Molly noticed the frown on Jess's face so she continued. "Don't worry. I'm fine, really."

Jess heard the sincerity in the girls voice and figured that there must be some truth behind the statement. Molly didn't seem to strike Jess as a girl who would lie. "Who are you?" Jess asked.

"Molly," the girl answered with a confused frown.

"No, I mean. Who _are_ you? How do you know about the ARC? About the Anomalies? Everything. Who is Molly?" Jess stopped and looked at Molly sat in the back seat.

"Becker?" Molly turned to Becker. "Can I . . ."

Becker interrupted her, "You can trust jess. I'm sure."

Molly clasped her hands together in her lap, before unclasping and re-clasping her hands nervously. Suddenly she had remembered why she didn't want anyone else to know about her; once they did they would treat her differently.

"Molly?" Jess prompted.

Molly sighed and looked out the window, "I live on the other side of the anomalies. I travel through them. Always have; ever since I was born," Molly paused and found herself interrupted by Jess.

"What about the ARC? How do you know Becker?" the questions started once more.

Becker smiled to himself ,"Give her a chance to speak Jess."

Molly continued, "I was involved in the anomaly project before the ARC was even built. I sort of stumbled across it one day when I was 11; The ARC didn't exist then, just the Home Office. I was running from a pack of raptors and I tried to escape by going through an anomaly. Next thing I knew I was surrounded by men with strange weapons. I was terrified; I'd never been around that many people at once before. They took me to the Home Office and asked me some questions and then they introduced me this other man, Nick Cutter. I told him about myself and he sorted everything out. Within two hours of meeting him he managed to sort it so I could go home, back through the anomalies. He made me promise to keep visiting them at the Home Office. I think he wanted to make sure I was OK," Molly broke off and smiled sadly.

"And Becker?" Jess asked gently.

"I met him after the ARC was built. Nick introduced us after Captain Ryan died. Apparently Lester said that at least one of the soldiers had to know about me in case there were already people at the anomaly when I went through. It's all good though 'cause Becker's nice. He always makes sure I'm OK," Molly finished with a smile.

"Sound like you have an interesting life," Jess said.

"You have no idea," Molly had gone quiet, seemingly unwilling to share anymore information.

Jess saw this and changed the subject, "So where are we going to eat?" she asked Becker.

"Molly's favourite food," Becker glanced in the rear view mirror at Molly as he said this, watching for her reaction.

Molly's whole face lit up as the words registered in her brain, "Pizza!"

Molly's grin was infectious and soon all three of them were grinning. Jess could see in Becker's eyes how much he cared for this kid who appeared to have no one and she felt profoundly glad to be a part of it.

Molly was still grinning as they pulled up to the Pizza restaurant. Becker led them inside and they were shown to a table. Food was ordered quickly with conversation turning to more general topics' nothing was said about anomalies. It was half was through the Pizza when Becker turned the conversation that way again.

"So what happened to your arm Molly?" he asked casually, taking a bit of his pizza strait after.

Molly froze, pizza half way to her mouth. She put the slice down and pushed her plate away slightly. "Nothing," she said once more, looking down at the plate in front of her.

"I'm now stupid Molly and you know that. Please, tell me what happened," Becker's voice started off firm but turned soft as he finished his sentence.

"I never said you were stupid," Molly looked up at him and sighed, "It was just a run in with a few of my mum's friends."

"Can't be that good friends if they hurt you," Jess said.

"Yeah well, mum's friends have always been like that," Molly said quietly. "Excuse me, I'm off to the toilet." Molly stood up and left the table, heading in the direction of the toilets.

Jess turned to Becker, "What are you playing at? She was enjoying herself and you had to go and upset her like that," Jess chided.

"I'm sorry but I need to know what happened. You saw her arm; whoever did that to her meant to hurt her and I need to know why in case they try again. Next time she might not be so lucky," Becker responded sadly.

"Why can't she just stay at the ARC?" Jess asked. "Or with a family?"

"Molly can't stay in one place for long. Cutter told me about the time she caught the flu and they made her stay with Jenny. Within 3 days she had gone stir crazy, all she wanted to do was go back to what she called 'home'. Making her stay at the ARC would be like locking her up and I could never do that to her," Becker smiled at Jess, "We just have to do our best to keep her safe from here."

"I know you don't like the fact that I travel on my own," Molly said from behind him. She had returned from the bathroom just in time to hear what Becker had said. She moved round the table and sat down in her seat. "Thanks for caring," she said.

"Why shouldn't I care?" Becker asked her.

"No one else does. All Lester cares about is whether I bring him information on what's happening with the anomalies. You know that's the only reason he let's me travel on my own," Molly kept her voice firm but quiet, wary of the people around them.

"That's not true, Molly. Lester does care he just doesn't show it," Becker retorted.

"Whatever you say Becker," Molly said quietly. "Listen are we almost done here? It's just I left Queenie on her own. You know she hates that."

"Who's Queenie?" Jess asked Molly.

"My lizard, and my best friend," Molly replied. "Can I go?"

"Sure, we'll see you soon, yeah?" Becker told her.

"Um, Becker?" he nodded at her. "My bag's still in you car."

"I'll get it," Jess said getting up before Becker had a chance to respond. "Give me your keys."

Becker handed over the keys and the two girls headed outside towards the car. Jess handed Molly her bag then gave the girl a hug, shocking her slightly.

"Look after yourself alright. And I want to see you next time you're at the ARC, Okay?" Molly nodded and returned Jess's hug.

"Bye Jess. Say bye to Becker for me," Molly picked up her bag and started off down the road, stopping to wave at Jess just before she was out of sight.

Jess sighed as she turned to head back into the restaurant. Becker saw this and smiled softly at her.

"Will she be okay?" Jess asked him, sitting down.

"She usually is," that was all the comfort Becker could give. "She'll be fine Jess."

"Someone hurt her Becker. What if they try again?" Jess felt a tear slip down the side of her face. "Poor kid."

"She's had a hard life, but it's all she knows. She told me that the first time she went through an anomaly she was only a few hours old," Becker saw the tear trickling down the side of Jess's face and softly wiped it away. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

Becker stood and headed off to pay the bill before returning back to the table where Jess was collecting her things. He rested a hand on he back as he led her out of the restaurant and towards his car, accepting the keys off Jess who still held them. The pair climbed into the car and Becker started the drive towards Jess's flat.

"There you are, Connor," Abby called to him as he hurried down the corridor ahead of her. He stopped and turned around to face her, a smile on his face.

Abby ran to catch up with him but as she drew closer she could tell that his smile was false.

"Hi Abby. What's up?" Connor kept the grin on his face but it didn't reach his eyes.

"How's the research going?" Abby asked him.

"Oh, you know," Connor's answer was vague.

"No Connor, I don't know. I've barely seen you in days, no one has. You're spending all your time locked away in Burton's lab and you won't tell anyone what's going on. I'm not even sure you've left the ARC in days," Abby kept her voice low enough not to cause a scene but firm enough that Connor knew she wasn't kidding. Her voice suddenly turned quiet, "We were supposed to be looking for a flat together, Connor. But ever since you got this job it's like . . ." she trailed.

"I'm sorry love, this is just really important. Something's up with the anomalies, you know that. I've almost worked it out," Connor pulled Abby into a hug. "I'll be home soon, I promise."

"I hope you're right," Abby whispered. Connor dropped a kiss on to her forehead and held her close as they enjoyed a rare moment together in their hectic life. The moment was shattered as they heard a voice shout Connor's name.

The pair looked up to see Burton calling Connor from the other end of the corridor, "Hurry up, I haven't got all day." He shouted then disappeared back into his lab.

Connor looked down at Abby, "I have to go," he whispered, dropping another kiss into her forehead. Abby watched as he hurried down the hall towards his lab.


End file.
